Rolling vehicular toy

ABSTRACT

A spherical inflated device to be used as a rolling toy, with an internal spherical seating section connected to the exterior of the device by one or more cylindrical passage holes. Handholds are fitted in the internal seating section to enable the occupant to shift his weight and thus provide motion and direction control to the device. The device may be fabricated by means of combining a series of independently formed inflated shaped sections.

United States Patent [191 Tidwell [111 3,806,156 Apr. 23, 1974 ROLLING VEHICULAR TOY Felix Tidwell, APO San Francisco, Calif.

[73] Assignee: The Raymond Lee Organization,

Inc., New York, NY. a part interest 22 Filed: June 27,1972

21 Appl. No.: 266,717

[75] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl 280/206, 115/20, 272/1 B, 272/33 [51] Int. Cl A63g 29/00 [58] Field Of Search 280/206, 206 X; 115/20; 272/1 B [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,938,727 5/1960 Nosak 280/206 X 3,460,828 8/1969 Curlee 280/206 Primary ExaminerRobert J. Spar Assistant Examiner Ross Weaver Attorney, Agent, or FirmHoward l. Podell [5 7] ABSTRACT A spherical inflated device to be used as a rolling toy, with an internal spherical seating section connected to the exterior of the device by one or more cylindrical passage holes. Handholds are fitted in the internal seating section to enable the occupant to shift his weight and thus provide motion and direction control to the device. The device may be fabricated by means of combining a series of independently formed inflated shaped sections.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures ROLLING VEHICULAR TOY SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION handholds so as to put the device into motion and to control the direction of said motion.

The device is in the general shape of a spherical shell within a concentric larger spherical shell. The space between the two spherical shells is inflated with air. Egress to the inner sphere, in which .the occupant sits, is through any one of several tubular tunnels linking the inner shell with the external shell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The objects and features of the invention may be understood with reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the rolling toy;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofa section of the rolling y;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section, in elevation, of the rolling toy and the seated occupant; and

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of the rolling toy at the moment of impact with a vertical surface, indicating the shock absorbing qualities of the toy.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

Turning now descriptively to the drawing, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates the toy formed with an external spherical shell fastened to an internal concentric spherical shell 12 with tubular radially oriented tunnels l1 joining the internal spherical shell 12 with the external shell 15 to provide egress to and from the interior 38 of the toy 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the occupant rests in an umbilical position in the interior 38 with his hands 22 grasping one or more of the several handholds 21 which are fastened to the interior shell 12. The inflated space 25 between the inner shell 12 and the external shell 15 may be reinforced by internal partitions in addition to the walls 28 of tubes 11. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, the device 10 may be formed by joining together several shapes 30, each shape 30 being in the form of a partial unit so that the surfaces 31 when joined together by an adhesive become an internal partition of the completed spherical toy 10. The concave surfaces 11A are joined to form the complete tube 11 leading between the inner seating section and the outside of the toy 10.

Section 30, shown in FIG. 2, when joined to seven other similar shapes, by applying adhesive to plane surfaces 31 and joining said plane surfaces together, forms a rolling toy 10 with six radial tunnels 11 between the inner occupant area and the external shell 15.

FIG. 4 illustrates the manner in which the toy 10 absorbs shock when it rolls along the ground 35 into a vertical wall 36. The external spherical surface is flattened along the area of impact with the internal inflated air distributing the force of impact evenly throughout the area of the internal shell 12 and the external shell 15.

Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described herein, it is indicated that all matter contained herein is intended as illustrative and not as limiting in scope.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A spherical shaped device adaptable for use as a rolling and tumbling toy which consists of an external spherical surface joined to an internal concentric spherical surface by open radially oriented cylindrical tubes with the space between the internal surface and the external surface sealed and inflated with air to maintain the spherical shape of the device, said device being formed by the joining together of eight identical inflated shapes with each of said inflated shapes being in the general form of a quarter segment of a concave hemisphere, with two of the walls of the inflated shape being in the form of concentric spherical contours, and with each of three other side walls of the inflatable shape lying on mutually perpendicular planes to each other with each of said side walls being formed as a flat sheet, and with the intersection between each pair of adjacent side walls being formed in a concave circular shape so that when eight of said inflatable shapes are joined together by adhesive coated along their flat joined side walls, the concave shape of the intersection of each pair of adjacent side walls of each set of four adjacent shapes is in the form of a radical tube leading from the exterior to the interior cavity of the formed sphere, with the interior surface of the formed sphere being in the shape of a hollow concentric sphere, where the walls of each of the inflatable shapes are formed of plastic sheeting. 

1. A spherical shaped device adaptable for use as a rolling and tumbling toy which consists of an external spherical surface joined to an internal concentric spherical surface by open radially oriented cylindrical tubes with the space between the internal surface and the external surface sealed and inflated with air to maintain the spherical shape of the device, said device being formed by the joining together of eight identical inflated shapes with each of said inflated shapes being in the general form of a quarter segment of a concave hemisphere, with two of the walls of the inflated shape being in the form of concentric spherical contours, and with each of three other side walls of the inflatable shape lying on mutually perpendicular planes to each other with each of said side walls being formed as a flat sheet, and with the intersection between each pair of adjacent side walls being formed in a concave circular shape so that when eight of said inflatable shapes are joined together by adhesive coated along their flat joined side walls, the concave shape of the intersection of each pair of adjacent side walls of each set of four adjacent shapes is in the form of a radical tube leading from the exterior to the interior cavity of the formed sphere, with the interior surface of the formed sphere being in the shape of a hollow concentric sphere, where the walls of each of the inflatable shapes are formed of plastic sheeting. 